Not the Only One
by ilovetomhiddleston
Summary: A teenage Loki is very lonely... until he sees a beautiful girl. Not just any girl, but one with blue skin! Has he found another Jotun on Asgard?
1. Chapter 1

I pulled on the cape next, almost completely dressed. The red was different, but it never felt so right before. Everything was too big; Thor had always been more filled out than me. The helmet was the worst, it hung loosely over my forehead. In the mirror though, I felt whole. I felt… _enough._

I wanted to prance around the palace dressed in Thor's armor, I wanted everyone to see me, I wanted everyone to see me as equal. Though that stupid ugly voice in the back of my mind reminded me in hushed sadness that wearing his clothes wasn't enough. Really, there was nothing I could do.

Even sadder than before, I left Thor's clothes where I'd found them in the grand wardrobe. Thor's wardrobe was much larger than mine. And his room. His armor. His food rations. And the love he received.

Footsteps sounded from down the hallway and I quickly hopped on Thor's bed, leapt to the top of the wardrobe, and from there launched myself into the open vent trailing it's way around the ceiling. It was large enough for me to roll quietly and stealthily through it's opening.

Instead of immediately crawling back to my room through the vent tunnel, I decided to wait and watch Thor, to see if he had anything to hide. Thor loved me endlessly. I wanted to return that love, dearly. But living in his dark shadow had caused me too much pain to even look him in the eyes anymore.

Dressed casually, Thor emerged from the overly decorated double doors. He waltzed in grinning. He was always smiling. I frowned from my vent.

"I know you're up there, Loki!" he cried, still grinning, though carrying out his typical chores. I didn't reply. He continued folding clothes.

"Won't you come down? They're feasting in the main hall."

I couldn't find my voice.

"You never join us," Thor's tone was laced with something I couldn't recognize.

I waited a long time before speaking. "They don't want me there."

"_I _want you there. Isn't that enough?"

I wanted to reply with 'No', but was simply too tired, too tired with myself to try to be mean to Thor today.

The vent was a great hiding spot because Thor was too broad-shouldered to squeeze in with me and try to break my walls down like he was constantly doing. Opening up had never been easy for me. Well, maybe before I realized I was nothing more than a shadow, never to be loved the same. Opening up then was easy. The fact that something so natural now seemed so impossible felt foreign; I wished things had never changed.

"Loki," his voice was exhausted. "Please?"

I didn't answer.

He finally left, dejected.

I lay in the vent awhile before crawling back to my room. The vent opening was positioned directly over my bed so I could drop effortlessly into my bed from the ceiling. It usually sprouted a smile across my face but today I was too immersed in loneliness to even smirk a little.

After awhile of self loathing, I decided maybe a walk in the gardens would brighten my mood. I was tired of locking myself away. There was no way I'd walk past the Great Hall and see everyone dining, though. I'd have to go out through the vents.

I was lucky, being the only one who knew of and could fit into the vents. I was a scrawny sixteen year old but could still hold my own in battle. Traces of existence were distributed amongst the vents; my crumbs from when I've snuck food after dinner, dents from where I'd sat too long, and endless books were scattered every direction.

There was a vent that directly out of the palace and I made my way en route. It hadn't taken me long to memorize the complex trails.

I followed the dwindling sunlight streaming in and deposited myself out of the rectangular hole. No one was in the gardens, I must've accidentally stumbled to Valhalla!

Finally smiling (it felt odd, smiling) I darted to the tallest tree in the garden, and the one curved best for hanging out and reading. I started scaling the trunk and planned on going to the top, until I spotted something unusual. Not an animal, it was vibrantly blue and not something I recognized. A flower maybe? I could only catch a slim glimpse of it; the rest was hidden in the dense leaves and branches. Silently, I hopped branch to branch until I was close enough to reach a hand out and touch the blue thing. It looked smooth. Just as I reached a finger out, the blue thing moved. To reveal a much larger something.

A person!

Long, dark hair hung sloppily down her back, but still maintained an unusual sense of beauty. Her features were defined and brilliant. Her eyes shone in a way I'd never seen before. Clothed in a simple white cotton dress, she was no less than breathtaking.

Except there was something very, very wrong with her.

Her skin was blue.

Upon meeting my eyes, she let out a tiny yelp, hardly audible, and started her way quickly down the branches, faster than me. It took me a long moment of confusion and disbelief before I could throw myself together and follow after her. There was no way I could lose this girl. She was… like me. In a way no one was. This must be a dream. And I hadn't had one of those in a long, long time.

"Wait!" I called, but I was losing her amongst the brush. Instead of trying my way through the difficult branches, I decided to let myself fall from the tree. It wasn't that far a drop, was it?

Well, it was. I felt the impact heavy on my shoulders. Though my trick had worked. I was on the grass before she was out of the tree, and she hadn't noticed until she was a branch from the ground.

"Wait, please, I won't hurt you," I trying to gentle my voice, but I hadn't spoken to people other than Thor in such a long time, I didn't know how to properly converse. She was practically trembling. Her skin was no longer blue but a porcelain shade, looking paler than healthy. I held a hand out. "Please, let me help you down."

She stared uneasily at my hand but didn't dare take it. I let it fall to my side. "What's your name?"

She watched me with careful eyes, careful eyes heavy with something I couldn't place. "Clove," she whispered it, I had to lean in to catch it.

"Pretty," I breathed, and this time she let me help her from the tree.

"Did you see?" her voice was rough and venomous with fear. I recognized it from my own voice.

"Yes."

She stiffened and made like she was going to run. "No, please don't run," I took her elbow, not harshly, so if she did want to run she could. As soon as my skin touched hers, the blue rippled across her body, slowly, drifting body part to body part like water falling over a stone. The same happened to my skin. She watched me with blank eyes, unbelieving.

"Please, I'm just like you," I smiled, holding out my other arm, letting her see that my skin tone matched hers, though hers was much more beautiful and radiant than mine.

No one spoke for a long time. I let go of her elbow. We stood in comfortable silence, letting our skin fall back to pale.

Something blossomed in my being, something I thought had died a long time ago, along with my happiness.

Hope.

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**Hope you enjoyed! Chapters soon. xoxo**


	2. Chapter 2

After a long moment, I led her to the little bench by the edge of the garden, darkness already settling around us. I found it hard to voice what I wanted to say… after closing myself off for so long, it was difficult being with a stranger. But, in a way, it was more comfortable. She didn't know nor have any judgment on me. Except she probably knew I was the son of Odin...

"I'm Loki," I said the words anyway, though she probably knew who I was.

"I know," she didn't look into my eyes, instead she fixed her gaze on her bare feet. They were muddled with dirt and dried blood, along with her dress. She was definitely an adventurer, someone who thrived from nature. "I didn't know you were Jotun." The word 'Jotun' was harsh and rolled off her tongue tinged with cruelty. She wasn't ashamed of her origin as I was; she was angry. I guess I hadn't quite reached that stage yet.

"I didn't know you were Jotun, either."

"You don't know me."

"That's true," I offered a small smile. "I do now."

She looked pointedly to the ground. "No one knows me," her eyes were brimming with water. "And now, I have to leave."

"No, please… I haven't spoken to anyone about this in a long time."

"I don't have to leave here... I have to leave Asgard."

I looked at her questionably. "Why?"

"Because the Allfather can't know I'm Jotun, and you're going to tell him."

I was appalled. "Are you joking? Why would I ever tell him?"

"Because you're his son," she remarked, her tone still heavy with anger.

"I'm actually not," I whispered so quietly I was sure she hadn't heard.

"What do you mean?"

Instead of explaining, I simply touched my finger to her arm, letting the blue consume me. She understood. "It's a long story."

Finally, she met my eyes. Warmth spread throughout my body. No one had looked at me like I was a person for a long time. "Mine is long as well."

We talked for a very long time, spilling every little detail we could, being so unused to sharing such dark things. Our histories were locked up, tied away, our families taking the key and burning every memory they could. Odin always warned me to never tell anyone of my birthright.

Turns out her family had Jotun blood in it from generations ago. When she was born blue her parents nearly had her killed, though were convinced differently.

"They thought they could make use of me one day," she sighed and let her hair fall over her face like a curtain, shielding her melancholy eyes. Without hesitating, I brushed it behind her ear. She didn't look up. "Maybe I'd be supernaturally strong or something. Instead I'm just an ugly blue thing that no one wants around. Well… actually I'm not supposed to go out. I snuck through my window. They're on Anaheim for a week."

"I know how you feel," I said sincerely.

Her eyes were no longer sad, but they were blooming with something I felt enveloping me as well. Something I couldn't place. I had a lot of trouble placing feelings. Probably from blocking mine away.

"Come on," I hopped to my feet, energized. Whatever this crazy feeling was, I never wanted it to go away.

"Where are we going?" Clove asked, still sitting down, hesitant. I could understand why.

"Come on," I laughed and started ambling up the courtyard walk, the gardens seeming to shrink around us. Night was settling. Thor would be searching for me soon. "Follow me," I urged, and I leapt stealthily through the vent opening. At first she appeared intimidated, but smoothed out her dress and soared through the air, her gracefulness incomparable. Her elegance drew my breath away.

I signaled for her to follow me and we crawled through the vent tunnels, stopping every once in awhile to peer through the vent slits into a room.

"Wow," she breathed. "The Allfather."

Odin was perched on his throne, as usual. He was chattering quietly about Thor to a young servant girl who couldn't look less interested.

I looked at her curiously.

"I've never seen him up close before," she explained. "I'm simply a citizen of Asgard. Not a prince like you."

Sharing the tunnels with someone else was odd. It was my typical escape place. No one else could come up and get me. No one else knew it existed, save Thor and probably Heimdall.

We crawled to Thor's vent. He was swinging Mjolnir around, practicing some new moves he'd probably learned in defense class. Again Clove was mind boggled, seeing royalty up this close. It bugged me that she hadn't reacted the same way to me. Probably because I never went to any of the press events. People hardly knew I existed. They only knew my name.

"Want to meet him?" I smiled, hoping to please her. She grinned and nodded. With careful hands, I picked up the vent slot and let my legs dangle through the opening.

"Brother, join me!" Thor shouted from below. "You missed defense class again, I'll have to fill you in!"

"Can a friend of mine come in as well?" I held my breath.

Thor was very taken aback. _Friend? Loki has…. made a friend?_ "Of course, Loki." He probably didn't even believe me.

I jumped and landed carefully on his wardrobe, then finished the drill and hopped to the bed and then the floor. I motioned for Clove to follow suit.

"So, you _have_ brought a friend! And you have shown her through the vents!" He didn't look very happy. "Excuse us, maiden," and with his fierce hands, he took me by the collar and dragged me to the back of his room. "Loki, what were you thinking?! Now she knows how to get into the palace. We don't want anyone climbing through the vents!"

"Calm down," I rolled my eyes. "She's different. I swear, she doesn't live nearby. She won't pull any tricks."

"Unlike you?" Thor smirked.

"Yes," and I exchanged a smile.

"What is your name, maiden?" Thor dropped to his knees and kissed her hand. She nearly jumped from the floor in surprise.

"I'm, uh, Clove," her voice fluttered with fear but immense curiosity.

"I am prince Thor, god of thunder, a-"

"Yeah, yeah, she knows who you are," I reached for Clove's hand to pull her from the room when I remembered how her skin would turn blue upon my touch. Instead I waved her to follow me. "We'll be in my room."

"Wait, let me speak with your guest! I will join you!" and before I could stop him, he was barreling ahead of me, excitedly babbling and pointing out different aspects of the castle. Clove's eyes shone with happiness. It took me a moment to realize I was still grinning.


End file.
